Llangennech 21 pts. Tenby United 13

With several changes down to squad rotation and injury, and a surprise selection in the returning Jim Kaumaitotoya, who was signed from Llangennech at the start of the season but had yet to put in an appearance, Tenby Tourers sponsored Tenby United set off east to play Llangennech RFC, a side they lost two close games to the last time they met in Division One West a couple of seasons ago, and a club currently sitting comfortably in fourth place in the table this season.

Despite the heavy overnight rain, the pitch had passed an early morning inspection and looked in reasonable condition as Tenby took to the field with one enforced late change, power supply employee Kyle Haymer having been called into work courtesy of Storm Brian. As a result, Joe Poole stepped up off the bench, with his place being taken by Ethan Morgan.

The United kicked off and the game quickly developed into a ‘put the high kick in and see what the wind does to it’, as each ball that went skyward was eagerly chased.

Misfielded kicks, as well as misdirected kicks, led to a series of scrums and lineouts, with neither side managing to get on top as, added to this, there was an unacceptable series of knock-ons which were down to a combination of a very wet ball and a gusty wind.

Kicks sent skyward by Ashley Sutton were eagerly chased by Jordan Asparassa, Craig Barnett, Jack Guerreiro and Yannic Parker, with flankers Barry Parsons and Andrew Cooke not far behind, but nothing materialised, whereas when the home side applied the same tactic, they secured the ball close to the Tenby line and, following a series of one-man out charges on the open side, switched play to the short side, and slick handling saw winger Tom Barnes cross for the first try of the afternoon, taking Llangennech into an early 5-0 lead.

Tenby tried to respond immediately, but scrum-half Matthew Morgan gave away a silly penalty and Tenby were lucky that Hammett was off target with his shot at goal.

Things got worse for Tenby when a Llangennech player was allowed to simply flop on top of Jim Kaumaitotoya, as he went to ground with the ball, and referee Spurrier deemed big Jim was holding onto the ball and awarded the home side a penalty. Hammett stroked the ball into the corner and from a well-worked lineout ploy, Llangennech scored through hooker Alex Jones, to which Hammett added the extra two points, and Tenby were 12-0 in arrears.

The remainder of the half totally belonged to Tenby as, through some well-organised plays, they broke through the home defence twice, with first Luke Dedman rewarding his fellow forwards by going over the whitewash, having stretched the home side to breaking point with a series of well worked pick and go’s.

Good lengthy clearing kicks by Jonny Morgan and Jack Guerreiro were turned into excellent kicks by fellow Tenby players keenly following up and from an ensuing lineout, clean ball off the top by Mike Davis led to a storming run by flanker Cooke, but his effort was spoilt as he went across the pitch, with little forward movement, a trend that needs addressing.

Despite this, the pressure was building on the home side and it came as no surprise when, following charges by Big Jim and Ashley Sutton, a situation was created where the Tenby eight piled in and flanker Cookie emerged having touched down. Unfortunately, the not-too-difficult conversion was pulled wide by Ashley Sutton and the half closed with a 12-10 score, and Tenby very much in the game.

Determined to start the second half better than they had finished the first, an excellent low skiddy and powerful kick-off was put in by Hammett, which winger Parker tried to field as it shot towards him, only managing to get his fingers to the ball just before it crossed the touchline.

From the lineout, the home side put together a series of drives, but their momentum was brought to a grinding halt as Cookie put in three driving tackles, forcing the home side backwards and away from the Tenby line.

At the scrum that followed, the Tenby eight put in an almighty surge and destroyed the home eight and forced them to give away a penalty, which Sutton stroked to the corner. Securing the ball from the throw-in, Tenby were driving towards the Llangennech line when referee Spurrier brought proceedings to a halt with a mystifying penalty awarded to the home side

Llangennech executed a superb move straight off the training paddock, with the blindside wing coming into the line off a nine to 10 pass interchange which caught Tenby on the backfoot, with the visitors only saved by some well-organised defence by Jonny Morgan and Jordan Asparassa, forcing Llangennech to knock-on.

Continuing to apply the pressure, Llangennech eventually got some reward when Barry Parsons was penalised for holding on and Hammett added to the score with a well-struck penalty, taking his side into a 15-10 lead.

The wingers from Tenby stole the next 10 minutes or so, with Yannic Parker knocking-on a huge up-and-under from Hammett, then making amends by fielding a similar effort by Sutton and finally by putting a high up-and-under himself, only to see his fellow wing Jordan Asparassa put in a very late tackle on Hammett as he had fielded the ball and put in his clearing kick.

Jordan was lucky the referee pulled out his yellow card and not the red the home crowd were baying for. However, Hammett recovered from his knock and stroked over the resulting penalty, taking Llangennech into an 18-10 lead

Despite being down a man, Tenby upped the pace and surprised the opposition by securing the ball at the breakdown with some energetic counter rucking and forcing them to concede a penalty.

With usual kicker Sutton having been replaced by Moritz Neumann and centre Craig Barnett switching to 10, it was Barnett who stepped up and stroked the ball over the bar, closing the score to 18-13.

The lead was nearly stretched back out to eight points, but Hammett missed the penalty that had been awarded by referee Spurrier for Tenby shoving before the ball entered the scrum, a ploy the home side had carried out at the two previous scrums with no whistle sounded.

With time running out, Tenby put some urgency into their play and pressurised the home defence with a series of pick and go’s, with both backs and forwards involved. Andrew Cooke and burly Moritz Neumann were prominent, supported by hooker Joe Poole, along with prop Lewis Davies and backs Jordan Asparassa, Craig Barnett, Jack Guerreiro and Yannic Parker, only for their efforts to be brought to a halt by prop Rob Luly giving away a penalty, which he made worse by ‘choppsing’ at referee Spurrier, who correctly added another 10 metres, allowing Hammett an easier task of adding the extra three points and pushing the score out to 21-13.

With the game clock getting close to the 80-minute mark, Tenby tried to at least get to a position where they were in with a chance of sneaking a losing bonus point, and having created it, with what turned out to be the final act of the afternoon, it was totally inexplicable when they were awarded a penalty that, instead of going for the potential and easier three points, they went for the more risky five or seven-pointer, by kicking the ball into touch close to the corner.

To really hammer home the point that this was not the way to do it, Llangennech stole the throw-in and booted the ball out of play as the final whistle sounded.

A strange game in a way, dominated by high kick and chase tactics used by both sides in the first half, which was also littered with numerous handling errors, to a second half where there seemed to be absolutely no shape at all to the game plan Tenby were working with.

At times you could have spread a blanket - and occasionally a hanky would have be sufficient - over the entire 15 players, as they all seemed drawn to the ball as if it was a magnet, with no wide men being offered to go on the attack and luckily the home side failed to capitalise on this opportunity when they got possession of the ball.

To finish the game not going for the three points and a potential losing bonus point was totally mystifying, as being eight points adrift at the time, even a try would only have yielded the same... and come the end of the season, a single league point could make a vital difference.

Tenby United: Jonny Morgan, Jordan Asparassa, Craig Barnett, Jack Guerreiro, Yannic Parker, Ashley Sutton (Moritz Neumann), Matthew Morgan, Rob Clarke (Rob Luly), Joe Poole, Lewis Davies, Mike Davis (Jack Clancy), Luke Dedman, Barry Parsons, Jim Kaumaitotoya, Andrew Cooke

Replacements - Ethan Morgan, Charlie Patching.